Corporate & Hospitality

Qantas Under 23s Ready for Jordan

Qantas Under 23s coach Rob Baan has drafted Turkish-based fullback Ersan Gulum into the Australian squad for the team’s final Group D qualifying match against Jordan in on Wednesday night (Thursday morning Aust time).

Qantas Under 23s coach Rob Baan has drafted Turkish-based fullback Ersan Gulum into the Australian squad for the team-s final Group D qualifying match against Jordan in on Wednesday night (Thursday morning Aust time).
Originally from Melbourne the 20-year-old uncapped Gulum is currently with First Division club Vestel Manisaspor having been in Turkey for the last two years.

Baan though will be without the services of Melbourne Victory midfielder Leigh Broxham and possibly Adelaide United-s Kristian Sarkies with both players struck down by illness with Sarkies fitness to be assessed at the team-s final training session on Tuesday.

The Qantas Under 23s require one point from the match to ensure progression to the third and final stage of qualifying which commences in August. Australia are on eight points, three ahead of Iran who host Saudi Arabia with the two matches being played simultaneously. Saudi Arabia on 12 points have already qualified while Jordan on two points are out of contention.

The squad assembled in Abu Dhabi a week ago playing a training match against Al Jazeera before moving to Amman in Jordan on Sunday.

“The players have trained very well especially over the last few days so I-m happy with our preparation and also that our European based players are mostly available,” said Baan.

“We do though have some concerns about the state of the pitch and also the fact that a match is being on the pitch immediately prior to our fixture.”

Iraq will meet South Korea at the same venue a few hours prior to the match with the Iraqis playing home matches in Jordan throughout the qualifying series.

The third stage features 12 teams split into three groups and will be held from August 22 - November 21, with only the three group winners representing Asia at the Beijing Olympic Games.